Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 89658 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 448(@200wpm)___ 359(@250wpm)___ 299(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89658 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 448(@200wpm)___ 359(@250wpm)___ 299(@300wpm)
Pulling into the garage, I leave my bag. I’ll get it later. Right now, all I want to do is wrap my arms around her. That is definitely priority number one. Pushing open the door from the garage to the house, I kick off my shoes in the mudroom and call out, “Honey, I’m home.”
“In here,” she responds.
I follow her voice to the living room. There’s a pizza box sitting on the table with a couple of bottles of water and a box of breadsticks that my girl has already started on. Hermione is hanging out on the back of the couch, snoozing away. While our rescue dog, Fable, who is a mixed breed that I surprised her with the day we moved in, is curled up beside her, eyeing the pizza. She knows my girl is going to give her a bite. Who am I kidding? I can’t say no to either one of them. Fay, as I like to call her, knows damn good and well I’ll be giving her a bite of mine as well. But first…
“Sunshine.” I breathe out her name as I bend my head to kiss her lips. “Missed you.”
“Missed you too. Great game today. That was one hell of a catch.” I flash her a grin before sitting next to her and reaching for a breadstick. “I know this goes against your diet, but it’s a celebration, and I didn’t want to waste time cooking. I just wanted to spend it with you.”
This couldn’t have worked better in my favor. “We’re going to the championship game. I can afford a cheat night with my girl.” We spend the next fifteen minutes eating and talking about the game.
“I’m telling you, I was gripping their hands so tight I don’t think they’ll be regaining feeling in those fingers anytime soon, if ever.” She laughs.
“I’m sure they’re fine,” I assure her. “You done?” I ask.
“Yes. I’m stuffed.”
“I’ll clean up. Why don’t you go get ready for bed? I’ll be right up.”
“Deal.” She places a loud, smacking kiss on my cheek and heads upstairs.
I gather the now-empty pizza and breadstick box, along with the rest of our trash, and take it out to the larger can in the garage. While I’m out there, I grab the gift that I’ve been hiding for her from the small safe. It’s a large black box, and a smaller one. After making sure the house is secure, and the lights are off, I head toward our room.
“What’s that?” she asks immediately when she sees the larger box in my hand. The smaller one is shoved inside the pocket of my sweats.
“I got you something.”
Her eyes soften. “All I need is you.”
“Well, this is kind of for both of us, and you already have me.” I hand her the box. “Open it.”
She grins and pulls the lid off the box. I watch as the tears immediately form in her eyes. She looks up at me in question. “What does it say?” I ask her.
“The story of Brock and Joey, and this picture—” She runs her fingers over the black-and-white image. “It’s the first one we ever took together.”
“I know. Open it.” She does as she’s told, and she gasps when she sees what’s inside.
“H-How did you do this?” she asks, flipping through the pages.
“When we moved, I realized that I wasn’t the only one who had kept copies or screenshots of all of our stories. There are a few that are missing—the ones we told in person—but that’s okay, because our story is to be continued. Not just with words, but with love, and laughter, and life,” I say, kneeling by the bed.
She sits up and wraps her arms around me in a hug. “This is the best present I’ve ever been given.”
“You think so?”
“I know so.”
“Well, I added a story that you haven’t read yet. Flip to the last page.” She grabs the book and does as I ask.
“Brock,” she cries, as her eyes scan the page.
“I think I should read it to you.” I take the book from her hands and wipe at her tears with my thumbs.
“I don’t need you to,” she starts, but I stop her by kissing her softly.
Pulling back, I don’t bother to look at the last page of the book. I have this part of the story memorized. “Once upon a time, there was a man, a football player, who fell hard and fast in love with his best friend’s little sister. He knew that giving in to the temptation of her was a risk, but it was one he was willing to take and would gladly take over and over again, knowing that the outcome was her love.
“With each passing day, the man fell more in love with her, until one day he realized, calling her his girlfriend and living with her wasn’t enough. He wanted her to share his name. After all, she already owned his heart and soul. The man decided he was going to ask her to marry him. All he could think about was building a future with her, and he wanted to get started on that future sooner rather than later. To be continued…”